Relative claims she saw victim kept in wire cage

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 3:15 AMFeb 9, 2013 at 10:54 AM

By Samantha Allensallen@fosters.com

DOVER — In a short session that lasted approximately 1½ hours Friday, the state called two more witnesses in the trial of Christina Thomas, who has been charged with first-degree assault for allegedly starving a young boy between 2006 and 2010.

Thomas, 33, of 214 Birch Hill Road, New Durham, took many people into her home during those years, the Strafford County attorney's office says, including the victim in this case and his mother. Foster's is identifying neither the boy nor his mother to protect the juvenile, who today is 9 years old and was removed from the home four months shy of his seventh birthday.

Marlene Thomas, a Rochester woman who married Christina Thomas' father-in-law, told Assistant Strafford County Attorney Jennifer Chase in a line of questioning she had been to the New Durham home as many as six to seven times over the years, and once she saw the victim kept in a “wired cage” in the backyard during an outdoor family party.

The prosecution projected a photograph of a large chain-link fence structure up on a screen before the jurors in Strafford County Superior Court.

Marlene Thomas also said Christina Thomas was incredibly “bossy and controlling” and she didn't like visiting their New Durham relatives. She said the mother of the victim told her she was not allowed to sit on furniture inside the home either, which was stated earlier in the mother's own testimony this week.

“It was a zoo. It was chaotic,” Marlene Thomas said. “I didn't like being there.”

In cross-examination, Christina Thomas' defense attorney Steven Keable showed the witness previous statements where she told the New Durham Police Department she had only been to the property two times. Keable questioned whether in visiting the home such a few numbers of times, she had the ability to judge his client's character. Marlene Thomas said assuredly she was qualified “because of the way (Christina Thomas) acted, you knew she dominated that house.”

The second witness called to testify was Michael Thomas, who is of no relation to Christina Thomas. He told Deputy Strafford County Attorney Alysia Cassotis in questioning he lived with the Thomas family for a short period of time and described several things he saw when living at the home, including Christina Thomas treating the victim's mother with disrespect. He said he heard “name calling” of both the mother and her son, and said racial slurs were uttered, similar to what other witnesses had said in their testimonies earlier this week.

“I've seen (the boy's mother) get smacked in the face. I've seen some gruesome stuff,” Michael Thomas said, detailing times when both Christina Thomas and her mother, Peggy Starr, allegedly beat the victim's mother. He added at one point, Christina Thomas told the family “if anyone were to call the cops (about the alleged beatings), it would be (Michael),” he said.

Starr is set to go to trial for second-degree assault for her alleged treatment of the child some time this spring and the Strafford County attorney's office says several counts of misdemeanor simple assault and a felony count of criminal threatening are pending against Christina Thomas for her treatment of the boy's mother, who has a developmental disability.

Michael Thomas said in his testimony he also saw the young victim vomiting and then Christina Thomas placed him in a trash can where was allegedly allowed to eat his own vomit. And at dinner, he said the boy would have his food taken away from him and then he would be teased and taunted by Christina Thomas and others, who sometimes would give the meals back.

In cross-examination, Keable asked Michael Thomas about tofu blended milkshakes he saw the victim consume, because Christina Thomas told the approximate 10 to 15 people living in the house the boy needed to be on a special diet for allergies. The prosecution says the boy's doctors never confirmed the numerous allergies Christina Thomas said the boy had, including to gluten and lactose products.

Keable pressed Michael Thomas as to why, when he was tasked with feeding Christina's five children as well his own children in the home, he didn't also feed the young victim his special shakes. The defense previously stated Christina Thomas left frozen tofu meals in the fridge for people in the house to serve the victims.

Michael Thomas became heated during his testimony, stating he served in the U.S. Navy for five years, and defending his rationale for not helping the boy he said was treated so badly while in the New Durham residence.

“He was a special child and I'm not going to sit there and try to mix food up,” he protested. “…It was not my place to do that. It was not my child.”

Keable also asked Michael Thomas why he never confronted Christina Thomas or took pity on the child if he had so many doubts about the victim's treatment. Michael Thomas replied, “I needed a place to stay.”

Before he exited the courtroom, Cassotis asked Michael Thomas if he was worried about testifying that day, to which the man said he was “scared.”

“Because I know Christina and I know and I know Christina knows people,” he said.

As jurors exited court early with snow falling fast before a weekend blizzard, Judge John M. Lewis stressed no members of the jury are to read newspaper articles or research the matter further, so as to not influence their decision-making.

Christina Thomas entered the courtroom Friday morning laughing with relatives and family members, and called a recess at one time and raced out of the room before the jury had been cleared. Since requesting a different attorney in the trial, but then opting to stick with Keable, Christina Thomas has called several recesses to speak privately with her attorney and to take breaks.